Emirates jet makes emergency landing

Melbourne, March 21, 2009

An Emirates airline flight, with 225 passengers, made an emergency landing in Melbourne after the Airbus A340's tail struck the tarmac on take-off, a report said.

The Flight EK407, headed for Dubai, had to dump fuel before the plane made an emergency landing about 30 minutes after the take-off on Friday night, said The Age report.

No passengers were injured, but there were reports of smoke filling the cabin, it said.

'It was what's known in the industry as a tail hit at take-off. It took off very steeply, the tail touched the end of the runway, and it (the plane) went up, stabilised and came back,' an airport official was quoted as saying in the report.

The plane landed without incident and Emirates would conduct an investigation into the incident, a statement by the airline said.

Passengers and crew were provided with hotel accommodation and alternative travel arrangements on the next available flights, the statement said.